Not sure what to do!

Three days ago a very pregnant cat found its way into my life. My guess is someone just dumped her. She is very loving and sweet. Took her to the vet, she is healthy and due in about a week. HELP!!! I have three cats, one male, two female who are all fixed and they just hiss at her. I have now put her in the laundry room, and she has all the necessities.

Now for my questions:

1. Does she need anything special, any special food or bedding, or anything at all I haven't thought about?

2. When she delivers, will she be o.k. alone? I work during the day, I spend time with her during the evening.

3. After she gives birth, will she let me come near her, I'm sorry to sound so ignorant, all the animals I have owned are always fixed, I know NOTHING about babies.

4. Should I keep my other cats away from her?

ANY advice would be so greatly appreciated, you have no idea!!

PS
After this ordeal, she will be spayed and stay a part of my family, I love her dearly already!!

Keep her seperated at all times when she is expected to deliver and when the babies are very young. Wait to introduce them to yours for awhile until they are settled in and all babies are vaccinated. It would be a lot better if someone could be there when she delivers, incase an emergency run to the vet is needed.

Put her on high quality kitten food from now until the babies are older and eating it too. They should be with her until 12 weeks or so. She will wean them and littertrain them on her own usually. As long as there is free access to food and litter the mother will teach them naturally.

If you cannot confine her to a room to herself then put her in a large dog crate with blankets. The birth will be messy of course.

Thank you very much. I'll try to have someone with her, I hope it happens when I am there. She is in the laundry room, which is quite large, it has a pantry in there where she can have her privacy. I just hate her being alone, first time jitters I guess!!!

How will I know if she is in trouble? Will she let me help her? I'm scared silly, worse than I was when I had my kids!!

Hello and welcome to another mom in waiting

Jen has given some great advice - and dont worry too much which I know is hard cats are generally very good at handling the birth, they know exactly what & when to do things. When she is ready she will go into the quite place & box/crate that you have provided so she can birth in peace. Depending on how many she is having, the process is fairly quick and it wont be long before she is suckling them

She wont mind you/someone being there and as Jen mentioned if anything does go wrong, you get her off to the vets.

There are some very experienced members here and they will be more than happy to help you with any questions or worries you may have, so please feel free to ask away

It is better if you can be with her for the births. Some cats like to have their faces petted when having contractions. It’s comforting. I would guess she would like you to be there since she came to you.

Kittens should present head first in a diving position. Sometimes they can come tail first and these can be troublesome. You should have some latex gloves like the dentist uses. I buy them at my drug store. They are great for gardening too. lol.
Also have some KY jelly or something like that. If a kitty is breach you may need to use your finger to reposition the back legs. Always use lubricant. I have a girl who delivers most of her kittens breach and I have only had to help her with one of them.

You will also want to count the placentas. Make sure she delivers the same number of placentas as kittens. She can eat them. They are rich and since you don't know what her diet has been like she may need the minerals and such. I restrict mine to eating 3 because they cause diarrhea, but my cats are well fed.

I also have extra towels and wash cloths handy, floss and a round ended sissors that has been cleaned with alcohol....just in case I need to help with a cord. Usually I allow mom to chew the cords but if the kittens come to close together and she has too many to do I will help. Never cut a cord with blood in it unless you have tied it. Use floss and knot it around the cord. Trim the floss short so mom isn't wanting to pull it.

For your other cats....Now is a good time to put some towels in their favorite places. And put some with the new kitty. This will allow their scent to get on the towels. When they are nice and used switch them. Your kitties towels go in the laundry room with new kitty and hers go out with the gang. I would wait to introduce them but you can use the towels as a way of introducing their scent. They will get used to her smell and she theirs so when you are finally ready it will be less threatening. The day of introductions it also helps to rub the new kittens and cat with your cats scent.